SEOUL - July 18, 2008: In an era of soaring gasoline prices, Hyundai
Motor Co. is helping frugal–minded drivers meet the challenge of
affordable transportation with its newly developed Kappa engine.

"The world is thinking small like never before: Smaller fuel
consumption, smaller CO2 footprint, smaller overall emissions. Today small
is beautiful and Hyundai is ready to answer the call to small with our new
Kappa inline four cylinder engine," said President and Chief Technology
Officer Lee Hyun–Soon.

Hyundai i10

The first car to have the Kappa engine installed will be the i10, which
is 100 percent produced at Hyundai Motor Co.´s Indian subsidiary in
Chennai. Hyundai Motor India (HMI) launched the i10 in October 2007 and has
sold 184,465 units as of the end of June, one of HMI´s best sellers.
Click PLAY to watch short video clip of the i10 introduction in Barcelona

Hyundai´s i10 minicar with a 1.25 liter Kappa engine will deliver a fuel
economy rating of 5.0L/100km (47 mpg) in the European combined test
cycle––for best in class performance. And Kappa runs cleaner
than the competition: In the European combined test cycle, an i10 equipped
with the Kappa engine produces just 119g/km of CO2–far less than the
Fiat Panda, Fiat Punto, Opel Corsa, Renault Twingo and Nissan Micra.

Kappa also impresses with its high specific torque rating of 9.6kg.m per
liter––best in class––for excellent drivability in
stop–and–go city traffic. Kappa will also be installed in
Hyundai´s i20 due to be revealed at this autumn´s Paris Auto Show.

Developed over a period of 48 months, the Kappa project harnessed all of
Hyundai´s engineering know–how in the quest to squeeze more energy
out of each droplet of fuel while achieving EURO–4 emissions
compliancy.

Kappa puts out 77.8ps@6000rpm––very competitive within the
European A–segment––but peak torque is rated
best–in–class at 12.0kg.m per 4000rpm––ensuring
outstanding acceleration and driving enjoyment.

Kappa adopts a number of weight and friction reducing innovations to
achieve its impressive fuel economy.

First, the engine block is made from high pressure die–cast
aluminum which results in considerable weight savings: Weighing a mere
82.4kg (1.2 with manual gearbox)?Kappa is the lightest in its class among
leading European and Japanese–made engines (using the same measuring
criteria across the competitive set).

Kappa´s main block features a ladder frame construction for superior
structural stiffness while its cylinders are fitted with cast–iron
liners for improved abrasion durability. Additional weight was shaved off
by integrating the engine support bracket with the timing chain cover.

But probably the most significant engineering innovation is Kappa´s
offset crankshaft, an engineering concept first adopted in the Gamma engine
introduced last year.

Unlike a conventional engine where the centreline of the cylinder bore
is in perfect vertical alignment with the rotating axis of the crankshaft,
the Kappa´s centreline is offset by a small distance. By creating this
offset distance, engineers have succeeded in minimizing the side force
created by the pistons. The net effect is an improvement in fuel
consumption and a reduction in noise, vibration and harshness.

Engineers also devised an innovative piston concept to reduce piston
mass. The shape of the piston skirt was optimized to reduce its size while
the compression height of the piston was also reduced, resulting in
precious weight savings.

The optimized piston skirt is also treated with Molybdenum Disulfide
(MoS2), a special anti–friction coating.

A highly sophisticated process of Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) is
used to apply an ultra–thin layer of chromium nitride (CrN) to the
piston´s oil ring. CrN ensures high wear resistance and a low friction
coefficient. CrN–coated piston rings using PVD is an innovative
technology borrowed from the Tau V8 engine that Hyundai introduced earlier
this year. Friction between the oil ring and cylinder wall has been further
minimized by reducing the oil ring tension. The smaller mass and special
surface treatment of the piston skirt and oil rings yielded additional
savings in fuel consumption.

Kappa is the first Hyundai engine to be fitted with an accessory drive
belt which does not require a mechanical auto–tensioning adjustment
device, reducing the hardware and further lowering weight and cost. Because
it is designed to maintain an ideal tension setting, the belt runs quieter
and with proper preventative maintenance and care, the belt will last
100,000 miles.

Kappa uses a new, longer reach spark plug which enabled engineers to
enlarge the size of the water jacket to promote more efficient engine
cooling around the critically important spark plug and exhaust port area.
Cooler operation also prevents engine knocking.

The long reach spark plug (M12 thread) also enabled engineers to enlarge
the valve diameter for increased airflow and combustion efficiency.

A lightweight, heat–resistant engineering plastic was specified
for the intake manifold. This reduces cost and weight and yields an overall
performance improvement.

The fuel delivery pipe assembly is a returnless type (to eliminate
evaporative fuel emissions) and is made of SUS (steel use stainless) with
an innovative inner structure for the reduction of pulsation noise.

Kappa is controlled by two 16–bit 32Mhz microprocessors for
digitally precise control of the ignition timing, idle speed, knocking and
emissions.

Kappa is the eleventh in its series of gasoline engines to be
independently developed with Hyundai technology. The development story
began in 1991 with the introduction of Hyundai´s first proprietary engine,
the four–cylinder Alpha (see list below). Kappa will be manufactured
in two variants 1.25 litres (EU) and 1.2 litres (Indian market only) at
HMI´s No. 2 engine plant, where annual output is forecast to reach 250,000
units per year. With the newly–constructed No. 2 Kappa engine plant,
HMI will have a total engine manufacturing capacity of 570,000 units per
year, including the existing 320,000 units–per–year No. 1
Epsilon and Alpha engine plant. The Kappa engine plant begins production
today (July 15).

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